About ancient weapons of Vietnam.

The development of a weapon can be divided into two periods: the period of the weapon's use of human muscular energy and the period of the weapon's use of explosive energy. Weapons using explosives developed from around the 13th century to the nineteenth century were quite complete. So there are two types of weapons that coexist and develop. Although it was born very early and had a long development process for thousands of years, but the weapons using human strength have little progress in terms of low efficiency, gradually developed by the type Use explosive weapons instead. The term for calling these two weapons is  Gas   and  Fire.

Dong Son weapons

During the reigns of Lý - Trần - Lê, we never forgot to repair the martial arts to enhance the ability to fight foreign invaders. In times of peace, many kings came to warn the generals not to ignore the national defense, to take care of the military training of generals, building ships and forging weapons. The letter  reads "The military strength to win 5 things: to change weapons; With enough troops and vehicles; More concise; Good trainer; Be good generals. " Thus, "repairing weapons" is the first important thing. In the history of our country, armed with light weapons for the most developed military during the Le, XV - XVI. In the 18th century, the common white spirit was popular. According to the  council In the middle of the nineteenth century, most of the Imperial soldiers were armed with white gold. Tay Son troops have firecrackers and some types of firearms, but they are essentially white.

Vietnam antique weapons can be divided into functional categories and shapes, including:

Gauze: close range weapons, ranged weapons, defensive weapons.

Air weapons: command guns, cannons, rockets, cast iron.

* Gas.

Near-range weaponry:  spear, school, sword, sword, spear ...

- On education: there are teachers with grandson or trainee, teacher nose shaped tufts, pen shape, leaf leaves, spears with spines in the body. Teachers can check short or long to more than 2m (teacher's school) should roll sheet or roller assembly special need to be firm. The general size of the spear: long body from 29 - 44cm, blade width from 3 to 4.4cm, weight from 250 to 540gr. For spleen in the body length from 23 - 40cm, weighing 100 - 320gr, the body with a square cross section tapered toward the nose, square prong near the spear. Pointed spikes are about 1.5 - 2cm long. Sticks with nail holes to attach to the rolling.

- The field is a kind of spear with a very long can be up to 4m, the effect is used to pierce with very strong force. The field of the square is divided into two distinct parts: the nose and the handle. General dimensions: length from 40 - 64cm, nose section 1.4 x 1.4cm, weight from 300 - 520gr.

- Faithfulness: It is a popular weapon because it is capable of feeding, piercing, hitting enemies. The size is usually large and is quite sophisticated. Verbal consistency consists of two parts: the nose and the handle. Pointing straight along the shaft of the rolling rod (the spear), close to the rolling head to a tongue flap, flat head, sharp (sentence). The end of the sentence is made up of rolling. General dimensions: length 52 - 66cm, weight from 580 - 1000gr.

- The sword is also considered as a personal weapon because it is worn by the generals. Includes sword and sword fields. The blade is 40 - 61cm long and weighs 500 - 1300gr. The blade is quite wide and the blade field is narrower.

Weapons near the ax, spear, through (Material BTLQG)

Long range weapon.  Include TB. Hook, arrow. This is a weapon capable of dealing damage over long distances, pushing weapons away from human strength, and mechanical thrust.

- Tuberculosis: The first part of arrow-like arrows with large wings, with 2,3 prongs, throat long, medium size 20 - 26cm, weight about 100 - 120gr.

Beam hook: shaped like an anchor but with 3 hooks bent up, used to throw, hook. Rectangular body, curved hook section.

- Arrows: use with bow, crossbow, weapons ranged from traditional nation. Length from 5 to 13cm, arrows length from 4 to 8cm.

Defense weapons . Rhizomes, tubers, triangles ...

There are also weapons made from bamboo such as arrows, crossbows, traps ... or the natural disadvantageous terrain, even many venomous animals such as bees are also used in the popular. guerrilla warfare

Bronze arrow, about 2,500-2000 years ago today, discovered in Co Loa - Dong Anh - Hanoi (BTLQN)

* Firearms . Composed of guns and cannons. The old records from the Tran Dynasty had a firecracker put on the boat to attack the war boat of the Champa army. Ho Quy Ly ordered his son, Nguyen Trung Chan, to study the invention of the "cannon to fire" cannon against the Minh invaders. Later, when Hu Zhongcheng was arrested in China, the Ming ordered him to make the weapon. There are three types of guns: big ones on the back of elephants, two types of carriers, and small ones on the shoulders. He is considered the grandfather of the cannon.

From the thirteenth century to the nineteenth century in Vietnam there were many types of firearms with different names. The most popular were guns, cannons and some cannons cast in the Nguyen dynasty.

-  The order: used to fire command. The gun body is divided into three distinct parts: the barrel of guns, the gunpowder loaded with guns near the tail and the gun. Each section has a wide belt. On the body of the gourd is two details: two pillars as the viewfinder of the gun, between the two lines is a ledge, a small hole to burn fire wire slowly explode for the gun powder contained in the pot. Inside the gingival casting section of the wall of the cymbals firmly broke when the gun powder exploded. On the body of the gun also engraved with the number of the gun, such as "the unfinished decimal eight," meaning "317 public letter" ... The size of the command gun is not large, about 30-40cm in diameter mouth about 2.5 - 3cm, caliber diameter about 1.5cm, weight about 2.2 - 3.5kg. Usually cast in monolith. The Nguyen commander also had the words on the gun body such as "

 -  Canon. It is often called the General, the General, the General, the Spirit of business ... more popular in the Nguyen. Most cannonballs are 40 centimeters long and up to about 100 centimeters. The outer diameter of the barrel is from 14 to 16 cm, the inner diameter is from 3 to 8 cm, the stem diameter is from 13 to 22 cm, the gun contains. The gun consists of a large barrel that extends to the tail, around the rim of the mouth with a thick belt, in addition to the body a few other straps to keep the gun from breaking when the bullets explode. Hole traps in about 1/3 of the body from the rear of the gun, which has a high arched arm (small gun with one hand in the middle, and two large guns in symmetry. A gun is a round block, a cannonball, a gun, a gun, a gun, a gun,

 -  Bullets, guns : usually stone or cast iron. Globular. The diameter of bullets ranged from 2.5 to 5.5 cm, weighed from 50 to 200gr, had larger pellets. iron bullets, larger cast irons, more than 10cm in average, are ammunition of large cannons. In addition, the Nguyen also has a butterfly "spear ..." is composed of two half-bridge pot together with a chain of about 25 to 30cm long. When shooting bullets flying like flying butterflies, damage is much higher.

* "The Nine Gods" in the Nguyen Dynasty . Historically, before the fall of Hue (5.7.1885) Hue has 850 cannon. But after that event, France ordered the destruction and recovery of metal. Up to now, Hue has only about 60 cannons, which are rare objects under the Gia Long and Minh Mang. Among these were "the Nine Heroes" - nine bronze great cannons were minted in the beginning of the Nguyen Dynasty (1804) by the workers of the. Immediately after completion they are located in front of the Imperial Citadel, inside the two gates of Nhon and Quang Duc. The canine statue is divided into two groups: the group on the left side of The Nhon door has four named after four spring - summer - autumn - winter; The group of Quang Duc gate has 5 people named after the Five Elements: Kim - Moc - Thuy - Fire - Tho. All 9 people are allowed "The hero of the great  prince " (carved in Han characters on the gun) until the end of the Nguyen Dynasty they have not participated in the battle ever!

Form and structure: The mouth of the steam gun, the tail bulge is molded closed called  the back  (gunpowder). On the side of the gun there are 6 ledges, decorated with 8 stripe patterns running around the body. Between the guns there are two double-engraved engraved two-sided collapsible tentacles. The 14cm strap has a flanged shoulder, on this edge engraved silver Han characters, the content of the entire state of the gun production. Also on the body of each gun carved an  article  stating the reason for shooting guns in the 3rd Gia Long year (1804).

9 guns are 5.10 meters long, the circumference of the largest body to 2.16 meters, diameter of 0.51 meters (230mm diameter), the smallest weight is 17.100 kg The maximum weight is 18,400 pounds.

Guns are decorated with strips of fine patterns in the body, straps. All nine are mounted on a metal armrest system with wheels (often called guns). The gun length is 2.75m, 0.73m high, wooden wheel with iron bar 0.62m diameter, 0.22m thick. The outer surface of the gun carved dragon image, the dragon head touches the eyes look fierce, touching but not sophisticated but sophisticated. Particularly cylindrical spindles are 0.18m long, 0.22m in diameter. On the right side is the weight of the gun, on the left shows how to load the gun and use the gun. Shooting is very complex, so each cannon must have a five-man crew under the command of a captain, the bullets must be loaded through the gunfire, which takes time but the damage is not high, only impact breaking fortified fortifications and strongholds.

Beside the Nine Heroes, Hue also had 2 public spirits in Minh Mang (1834). These are two 310mm cannon, mounted on a cement base. The gun is 1.06m long, the gun body has three edges divided into four cavity unevenly, no pattern. On the last edge there is a fire hole written in the Han Dynasty  to destroy the enemy general General of the military  and the last knot engraved engraved the words of  Minh Mang . Compared to the Nine Heroes, the two guns of the Minh Mạng era did not have any instructions on how to fire, how to use the bullets, and how to size the gun. Next to the gun is a 290 mm round stone.

In casting large and heavy masses of thousands of tons, there is a need for skilled craftsmen in all sorts of work and synchronization. Technique of casting the Nguyen dynasty gun is also famous for its high level of metal processing, decorative pattern, clear, sharp, symbolic strength.

Ancient weapons of Vietnam said that they were armed with feudal forces, with the white light of overwhelming firepower, the weapons of the enemy, and the infantry as decisive force. battlefield. Large quantities of iron weapons are made by rudimentary smithing, but are effective in " taking off field combat".  These weapons also vividly reflect Vietnam's military art, such as  the People's War, guerrilla warfare, small-scale raids, few enemies.   From the time of Le Trung Hung and especially the Nguyen, large firearms such as cannon began to appear and increasingly popular. However, their function often signals the command or to "show off", rather than use or use in practice. END=NAM MO SAKYAMUNI BUDDHA.( 3 TIMES ).VIETNAMESE TRANSLATE ENGLISH BY=THICH CHAN TANH.THE MIND OF ENLIGHTENMENT.VIETNAMESE BUDDHIST NUN=GOLDEN LOTUS MONASTERY=AUSTRALIA,SYDNEY.11/9/2018.